The Cute, the Stupid, and the Angsty
by Pie-Chan
Summary: Simply an assortment of oneshots, all of which surrouns events that have happened between a tiny guild my friends and I belong to. Some are cute, some are stupid, some are angsty. Enjoy.
1. Story One : Convincing

Story One: Candy's P.O.V.

Some people are brave. Some people aren't.

As for me? Well. You could call me a coward. But to put it more bluntly and in a sense that I prefer: I'm your regular chicken shit. Yep. If I get scared of anything, I bolt. Or…hide. Normally the situation turns to me hiding, while Shinka, Akka, and Sanjii my guild mates, and what you could call close friends are all left completely and utterly clueless as to where I went off to. In most cases, they think I got carried off or owned by whatever monster or person I was running/hiding from in the first place.

Oh yeah. In case you were wondering; I'm a hunter. Although I degrade the title pretty damn well.

Well. Today it seemed that those guild-buddies of mine I so lovingly mentioned earlier were attempting to bring me along to Nifflheim. To be blunt: I hate the place. Did I mention I'm a chicken shit? I'm pretty sure I did. But…at least I had people to protect me. Look after me. Even take a hit for me.

I'm not one to socialize all that much. Mainly because I like the friends I have now. An angsty assassin. A spas of a wizard. And…a jackass monk. These are my friends. The ones that I will always speak highly of. Minus that little…jackass bit there. You can ignore that. Do it.

"Fucking hell, Candy!" Sanjii, the monk was a tad upset with me. You see, I always whine about where we're headed. Unless I'm not scared of the location, then I'll be the first to get going. Weird how that works out, hm?

"We've been there before. And you didn't die. Your precious 'Shinka-chan' was there to save your timid little ass." Sanjii snorted, while fixing the red-tinted goggles that sat atop his head, his spiky blond hair getting a tad ruffled in the process. Not like he really cared or anything.

Simply staring at the ground I began to pout, at times it made him stop bitching. "I don't care…" I mumbled. I bet I looked like a fucking child. Sitting on the cobble-stoned streets of Prontera, with my legs stretched out in front of me, my precious pet, Squish, sat in my lap. My violent, yet loving Deviruchi. He matched my hat. So that was simply a bonus. The miniature demon was attempting to pull at my blond, red-streaked hair, pulling at the small angel wings that came from my ears instead. I didn't mind. He always did this.

"Oh my…" Came a seemingly gentle voice to my right. " You've gone and made her pout again, Sanjii. I think this may be a new record. How long did it take you this time? 1 minute? Or have we entered seconds?"

"I think it's seconds now, Akka." Sanjii answered the top-hat wearing wizard with a grin.

Akka then flopped down beside me; trying the best he could to not disturb Squish in any way. Past experiences had caused him to be afraid of the little purple monster. Personally, I found it fucking hilarious. My spell-wielding buddy had taken his top hat off of his head, revealing his chestnut brown hair, and had begun to spin it slowly. He did this all the time.

"Where's Shinka?" He asked me rather suddenly, his dark sunglasses sliding down his nose a tiny bit. Man he was funny looking. I doubt anyone could take him seriously.

But, before I could even guess as to where our immature leader was, Sanjii sort of interrupted me, before I could even open my mouth even. "He told me he'd be here in a matter of seconds. He was just selling some random crap he had for some reason. Also says he has more food for your little asshole of a pet." He said, while his ice-blue eyes looked over at Squish. He really didn't like my precious. Damn…asshole.

Of course, true to his word, Shinka arrived in…well…a matter of seconds. He looked to be a tad pissed off.

'Probably another idiotic newb', I thought to myself. It seemed to be a plausible explanation.

His face was some what dirty, his eyebrows were furrowed, his little cat ears that stood perched at the top of his head were arched back, and his crimson red eyes were seemingly glaring at the ground.

'Yep' I concluded to myself, 'Another idiot.'

"Shit, dude…" Sanjii chuckled to himself, pulling at that little devil ears that came from Shinka's ears. They were like my angel ears. We matched. It was intentional, I think. "What did you do this time? Or what did some moron do this time…I should say."

Shinka gave Sanjii a small glare, swatting his hands away from him, before taking a seat to the left of me. "Just some idiots pestering me for items. And zenny. They then attempted to kill me. So…I killed them instead." He was so blunt about it…of course I couldn't really see what emotion he had on his face. Thanks going to the slab of dirty-blond hair that practically constantly covered his right eye.

Normally, in a situation such as this, I'd start complaining about idiots and how I hate them so. But, I was being eerily quiet. There were two main reason for my change of attitude.

Firstly. Well, I didn't want to go to Nifflheim. Just the thought of going there didn't really make me all too over-joyed. It was dark, scary as hell, and was filled with monster that could kill me rather quickly. Yeah, yeah. I knew I'd have three others there to help me…but…still.

Secondly. I sort of wasn't feeling all that well. You could say me being seemingly sick was my own doing, since it sort of was. See. I went to Lutie just the day before. And with so much bare skin, going to a place covered with snow and with temperatures in the negatives isn't really the most intelligent idea in the world. Perhaps I hadn't caught a cold. Perhaps I was simply feeling down because of Sanjii's plans. Yeah. That could be it.

But. Of course. I was proven wrong. How? By a sneeze and a sudden urge to do nothing but sleep all day. Then, I started shivering. It wasn't even cold. It was actually…rather humid. Curse you Lutie. Curse you and your wonderful snow.

To be honest, I didn't even clue in when Shinka had stood up, taken a hold of my arm, pulled me onto my feet, and began pulling me away from the huge crowd of people and off to a less…well, crowded area. I heard him tell Sanjii and Akka to stay put, but he couldn't tell Squish to stay where he was since…well, the little 'ruchi only listens to what I have to say.

"Shinka-chan! Why'd you do tha---" But, I was interrupted before my complaining could end. Shinka's hand was pressed against my forehead. He knew I was 'sick'. Damn it all to hell. I swear he has some sort of sixth sense for these type of things.

"You went to Lutie…didn't you?" Shinka asked me rather bluntly, as he stared down at me. I knew there was no point in telling a lie, since…well, he would be able to tell if I was fibbing. Just by my expression, I bet he could tell. Since…I was staring at the ground, my feet shuffling back and forth. Much like a five year-old child would do after breaking something and getting discovered. Heaving a small sigh he took his hand from my head, so her could rub at his temple instead. "You did."

Leaning over I scooped Squish into my arms, cradling him much like a mother would do with a baby. Falling backwards a little bit I rested my back against a wall of some random house, allowing a small groan to pass over my lips before looking up at Shinka again. "I was Angeling hunting…" I told him simply.

"You know full well you can find Angeling in other places…" Shinka stared at me, his arms crossed; he didn't look too impressed. Can't say that I really blame him. Yet again I was ruining seemingly decent plans for the day. "But. That doesn't matter…" He muttered, his expression softening almost immediately, this causing me to wonder what he was thinking. "…I'm assuming you weren't planning on telling us about you feeling sick and all?"

I tightened my grip on Squish, looking at the ground. How the hell did he know that? Well. I never really did ever tell anyone about anything. Mainly because I never enjoyed ruining the day for anyone else. I hate having blame put on me, especially when I can't help it. So, I figure, hide it, and everything should turn out at least some what decently. But, with people like Shinka around, my plans sort of constantly go down the tubes. I already said that he seemingly has some sort of sixth sense when it comes to any form of sickness, so, he always blurts out whenever I'm sick, just by taking a quick look at me. How he does it is beyond me.

"Of course you weren't." Shinka laughed lightly, placing his hand on my head, and giving my hat a quick rub, messing it up just a tiny bit. "But…how bad are you feeling? I know you don't want to go to Nifflheim. But if you're up for anything else, and actually feel like moving, then by all means, I'll join you."

Oh, Shinka. Being your regular over-protective self. I don't think he was ever really comfortable unless I was with him. Not that I care or anything. I almost never die when I'm with him. "I'm fine. I'll just go to Nifflheim. Seeing Sanjii's reaction after hearing my decision will be enough to make me feel better." I lied. I still didn't really want to go. But…I knew that it was sort of pointless to be all that afraid. There was a chance that I'd suddenly have the urge to faint, but that was highly unlikely.

But…Shinka caught me after I had begun to walk away. He must've caught me swaying from side to side. Of course…anyone could. "No." He bluntly said to me. He had taken hold of my hand, making sure I wouldn't be running off to Sanjii and Akka, getting a warp before he could say otherwise.

"Wh…what?" I laughed, my voice shaking a little bit. I wasn't nervous. No. To be honest, I don't know why I was speaking in such a manner. "L-let me go Shinka-chan. I'm fine. Really."

Shinka furrowed his eyebrows. Staring down at me with another one of his intense looks. "You're a crappy actress, you know that?" He mumbled. I could tell that he wasn't trying to be intimidating. He was just worried. As usual.

Staring at the ground again, I pouted. There was no point in attempting to convince Shinka otherwise. But…I didn't want to stay in some bed all day. And I didn't want Sanjii barking at me for it. "Let…let me go. I can live with this. It's nothing."

"No." Shinka repeated for the second time, pulling me by the hand he had caught earlier. It seemed that he was brining me back to where Sanjii and Akka were sitting. But…why would he bring me there? I thought he didn't want me to join them on their…escapades. "We're going to tell the Sanjii that you're not feeling well. I know you think you can come with us. But…if anything were to happen well…I don't know what I'd do. You know full well I'd feel positively horribly if you were to get hurt."

Pressing my heels into the ground, I made Shinka stop. This causing him to turn around and stare at me, clearly clueless as to what I was doing.

"I want to go with you…" I mumbled over the conversations of other people. "If I feel horrid…then I'll simply get Sanjii to teleport me back here. I'll sleep the rest of the day. Then I'll be find by tomorrow. But…I want to go. I really do. I know you'll be there to make sure I don't get hurt! You always are…"

Shinka looked down at me, in what seemed to be shock. It was rare that I burst out in such a way. I guess you could say he hadn't grown accustomed to it. His expression changed rather quickly. A small smile creased his lips as she shook his head, laughing slightly at my sudden 'plea'. "Fine…"

"Huh?" I blinked, not really understanding what was going on.

"I said fine. You can come. But the moment you feel sick, or dizzy, or anything of the sort, you tell me. Then we'll mooch a warp off of Sanjii, and you're going straight to bed. Got it?" Man, when Shinka wanted to be precise…he was precise. And I couldn't disobey either. That would call for consequences.

I couldn't help but grin after this, I felt so much better just because of it. "Of…of course!" I said after a long delay. With Squish clinging to my shoulder as best he could, I clung to Shinka's middle, something I usually did when I was pleased with whatever he had to tell me. After letting go, I went onto my toes and whispered: "Psst…Shinka…guess what?"

"What?" He whispered back, playing along with what I was doing. Even though he didn't really know why I was suddenly back to my regular self.

"Love!" I squeaked, jumping up and giving the assassin a quick peck on the cheek, running back to where Sanjii and Akka were waiting, giggling like mad, while my cheeks were a bright red. Of course I left Shinka to stand there. Face blank, strawberry red, while he never even blinked. Ooohoho. Toying with him was fun.


	2. Story Two : A Working Moment

Story Two : Shinka's P.O.V.

Have you ever felt so close to someone…that no matter where they are, what they're doing, or who they're with, you worry? And when they're not with you…you're filled with anxiety, and constantly find yourself wondering over whether they're really fine, or in some sort of danger? Not to mention you can never really help but feel the way you do. Making things so much worse.

"Oi! Shinka! Snap the hell out of it damn it!" It seemed that I had trailed off in thought without noticing. Of course Sanjii just had to do the honors of bringing me back to the wonderful world of reality. In other words; he smacked me upside the head.

Rubbing at the back of my head I looked to my right, giving Sanjii a quick glare, "I would say thank you, but there were really better ways to go about 'waking me up'. Rather than hitting me."

"Now why would I pass up a chance to hit you?" Sanjii grinned rather widely. I wasn't the least bit surprised when he started laughing either. Damn monk laughed at everything. "The hell were you thinking about anyway? Even though I do have a faint idea what…"

There was no real point in explaining. I mean, Sanjii could tell when I was wondering over something. Or in this case, someone. "It's just…wasn't Candy supposed to be here a good twenty minutes ago with Akka?"

Sanjii chuckled at my response, giving me a few elbows in the side before explaining what he knew. And for some reason…he always knew where everyone in our tiny guild was, and what they were doing. "candy and Akka are in Payon cave. Knowing them, they lost track of time."

So that's what she had been doing all day. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The only reason Candy ever wandered to Payon cave was to get some extra zenny. "Alright. We'll just keep waiti--"

"Shinka-chan!" Before I knew what was going on, I had been tackled to the ground by something sopping wet.

Shaking m head I looked up to see a grinning Candy. Although her hair was dripping and all of her clothes were way past damp. "Candy! The hell happened to you? You're soaked!" Well, turns out that I was pretty 'soaked' as well. Come to think of it, that was probably the real reason behind her tackling me.

"It's Akka's fault!" She immediately told me in a huff, now…for some reason, sitting in my lap. Don't get me wrong. I didn't care at all.

"What? I did nothing. Nothing I tell you!" Oh. So Akka had come along with Candy, can't I know why I hadn't noticed him until know.

I smiled as Candy crossed her arms, turning to Akka who was attempting to shuffle away, since Squish had gotten awful close to him "I do believe that you were the one who pushed me into that icky pond!"

"I'm not complaining." Sanjii muttered loud enough for all four of us to hear, his eyes trailing down to Candy's shirt, which was still sticking to her skin. Soon enough he was grinning, and rather wickedly at that. "Cold?"

"Sanjii!" Candy quickly covered herself with her arms, her cheeks bright red. It took her a fair amount of time to figure out what Sanjii was talking about. Innocence I suppose.

There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to let Candy go anywhere until she was perfectly dried off. She could catch colds and what not rather easily, you see.

It took only a few hours for Candy to be ready to go. She was still a tad upset of Sanjii's perverted statement. I guess she wasn't all that used to his sudden unwanted comments.

"If anyone misses this warp, then you're outta luck." Sanjii said to the three of us. Of course, he was looking straight at candy the entire time. She has back luck with warps. Always missing them and all that jazz.

Right when the monk had summoned up a warp to the third floor of Geffen dungeon, Candy had clung to me arm. Didn't seem as if she was going to be letting go anytime soon either.

"Still don't trust Sanjii, huh?" I grinned, seeing her and Squish both giving Sanjii a glare at the same time was always amusing to me.

Oh. Why didn't Candy trust Sanjii? Well. One time he had warped her to the wrong place, intentionally of course, and she had to walk for quite awhile in order to get back to where the rest of us were patiently waiting.

"Of course I don't…" She mumbled as I walked into the warp, Candy right at my heels, with Squish dangling off of her shoulder. Still, of course, clinging to my arm.

In the blink of an eye we were deep down in Geffen dungeon. Luckily there weren't any monsters around. It always sucked whenever we were caught off guard. Because…well, Candy would normally be the one to get chased by all of the monsters around us. With the exception of Deviruchis. I think Squish had something to do with that. But, I don't want to even think about that evil thing's plans.

In a matter of five seconds, we were joined by Akka and Sanjii. Before either of them could make a comment about the situation, Candy interrupted.

"EE! Lookit the lil' 'ruchis!" Candy squealed, suddenly letting go of my arm and running off with Squish towards two twitching deviruchis. I didn't worry too much. The little monsters never attacked her after we caught her precious Squish.

"Don't go running off…" I groaned, rubbing at my temple afterward. Nothing good ever came from Candy running off on her own. Nothing. If it were Sanjii or Akka that had gone off on their own, I wouldn't have cared at all. But Candy had horrible luck when it came to running into monsters that were two times stronger than her. They just loved her, I suppose.

"Shinka-chan!" Whenever Candy yelled my name like that, my automatic reaction was to get ready to fight a hoard of monsters that would be trailing behind her. But, surprisingly, she wasn't running away from anything, not yet…at least. Coming back to my regular senses, I took notice that Candy was carrying three deviruchis instead of the regular one.

"We ain't keeping' 'em." Sanjii interrupted with a grumble, before Candy could so much as open her mouth to beg me. Whenever she was denied anything that related to deviruchis, she became very distraught. Looking down at the ground she pouted, letting the two 'ruchis she had found run off to wherever they pleased.

"Sanjii…you party pooper." Akka said as he stuck his tongue out at Sanjii. Him and Candy were undoubtedly the most childish of our guild. Yet another thing I found quite amusing.

"We already have one devious little pet in our group.' I told Akka, who quickly took into account that more deviruchis would be a bad thing. He was already pretty damn petrified of Squish.

Then…everything became eerily quiet. Something real bad was going to happen. I knew that much. Turning around I grabbed Candy's hand, making sure she was still there, and not being attacked by anything she couldn't handle.

"Um…guys…" Akka squeaked, shuffling as close to our small group as he could. "Doesn't uh…that Doppleganger thing wander about in this general area?"

Of all the things to mention at that moment…he just had to go and mention that particular monster. Never have we gotten away from that damn thing without getting hurt in he process. Or dieing. Not to mention Candy was positively frightened of the thing. She always started shaking whenever it was mentioned. Now was no exception.

Sure enough, right after Akka had mentioned the monster, it, and a gang of Nightmares teleported just behind us. Naturally, Candy screamed. Sanjii and Akka had already bolted in one direction. I decided that was probably the most ingenious idea ever.

Since I knew Candy was most likely too scared to even move, I scooped her into my arms and ran as fast I could. Even though I was running in the opposite direction Sanjii and Akka had gone, I didn't really care. All I did care about was getting out of there…and…Candy.

After a fair bit of being chased, I found one of the many crumbled walls that were scattered about. Skidding to a halt, I hid behind it, Candy still in my arms. I wasn't going to be letting go of her any time soon.

"Holy shit…" I laughed to myself after I knew our little monster buddies were long gone. Turns out that Candy had saved my ass for once, instead of it being the opposite way around. She had thrown a bunch of ankle snare traps behind me as I ran, which obviously slowed down the mob of monsters relatively well.

Now, however, Candy was having her own little 'break-down'. She was clutching Squish, who had been in her arms from the time she had let the other two 'ruchis go, to now. And to the best of my knowledge, she was crying.

"Candy…?" I muttered, my voice a little raspy from all of that recent running. She looked up at me after I had said her name. Her cheeks were stained with tears, while her hat was just a tad askew.

My automatic reaction was to pull her into a tight hug, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze and assuring her that everything was okay. Well. Now it was.

"Shinka-chan…" Candy managed to say over a few sniffs and sobs. She pulled back a tiny bit, looking up at me, a few tears dripping down her cheeks. I didn't even notice that I had been wiping away said tears with my thumb, causing Candy to blush a tiny bit. "I…I have a question for you."

I had slid down the wall in order to sit on the ground, my legs were far to tired to hold up my body weight any longer. So now, I was leaning against the wall, while Candy was basically laying against me. I took notice of her statement rather quickly, raising a skeptical eyebrow before giving her a faint nod. "Ask away."

"D'you think I'm…weak?" She didn't even look me in the eye as she asked her little question. I guessed that she felt ashamed for…yet again, acting like such a child in a serious situation. I didn't care. Akka didn't care. Even Sanjii didn't care. He may have made it seem the other way at times, but…he knew that was the way Candy simply acted. She was…'timid', you could say.

To be honest. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Candy was always thinking far too lowly of herself. "Of course I don't…" I truthfully answered. In all reality, the little hunter could kick some major ass if…she constantly didn't run away. Before she could deny my answer, I interrupted her my placing my hand over her mouth. "Don't try and make me think otherwise. I know, Sanjii knows, Akka knows…you ain't weak. You just have…bad…luck."

Aha. My ways of comforting had worked! A smile. Oh yes. "Th-thank you, Shinka-chan." Candy laughed lightly, pushing away my hand gently before wiping away the tears from her cheeks. At least she wasn't as upset anymore. I always looked at it as my fault whenever she was upset.

Everything was silent again. Although it wasn't as 'eerie' as it had been before. Candy was staring up at me. I was staring down at her. She didn't seem to care when my arms had trailed their way around her waist, in fact, it caused her to smile even wider than she already had been. I could feel my heart skip a beat when Candy inched even closer; crawling up my torso, if you may.

Finally. For once it seemed as if one of our 'moments' weren't going to get interrupted by anything/anyone. But. I took into account that my assumption was most likely wrong, so…I took now as my only chance. Leaning forwards I quickly whispered into her ear; "Don't be too surprised." before pressing my lips against hers. Oh how she jumped. I told her not to be too surprised. Guess my warning didn't have much of an effect with her. I assumed it wouldn't.

I was anxious as to what Candy's reaction was to what I had just done. Slowly I pulled away from her, I knew my face was beat red. So was hers. Making it not matter all that much. "Candy, I…I--"

"OI!" Fucking hell Sanjii! He ruined everything. Tonight…I was going to sabotage his diner. Yes. Candy had rolled over to sit beside me the instant she had heard Sanjii yell. Him and Akka were obviously searching for us. See. That's why I took my chance when I could, instead of stalling…like I…normally did in those type of situations.

I stood up just as Sanjii walked around the corner of the little hiding place I had come across, Akka close behind him, looking a tad flustered. Looking down at Candy I noticed that she was seemingly off in her own thoughts, a wide grin spread across her features, while her cheeks were still rather red. Her eyes weren't even fully open. I stopped trying getting into that head of hers awhile back. It was real cluttered in there.

"Okay! So Shinka and Candy were all along in a heart-stopping situation. Now I wonder what they could've turned out doing in the end…" Sanjii grinned, looking over at me with a knowing expression in his eyes. That is…before he was pelted in the side of the head by a rock.

"You dirty little wanker!" Candy growled before bolting upright, running after Sanjii with a hand-full of rocks. Squish hesitated, looking up at my for a tiny bit. He had been watching the entire time Candy and I had that…little…moment. So now he knew more than anyone else in our guild. I swear the little devil winked at me before running after his owner.

That thing was just as bad as Sanjii…


End file.
